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Overview
Jonathan Gatward is a Partner in the Corporate Department with extensive experience advising private companies, entrepreneurs, family offices and investors on strategic corporate transactions and business growth.
Jonathan supports clients through mergers and acquisitions, reorganisations and joint ventures, delivering pragmatic, commercially-minded advice.
Jonathan is particularly recognised for his expertise in partnership law, and his work with businesses where intellectual property and brand value are key commercial assets, including those in the publishing, fashion and creative sectors.
Expertise
Jonathan specialises in:
- Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
- Corporate Reorganisations and Restructurings
- Corporate/Family Office Advisory
- Joint Ventures and Strategic Partnerships
- Corporate/Family Office Advisory
- Partnership and LLP Law
- IP-Focused Businesses
Work Highlights
- Advised longstanding client and luxury hotel chain, Elite Hotels (Rotherwick) Limited, on the sale of 5 star and 228 bedroom Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa to the Arora Hotel Group.
- Acted for a longstanding client shareholder in Oxford Semantic Technologies Limited in relation to the sale of the entire issued share capital to Samsung Electronics.
- Acted for the shareholders of Poppins Nurseries Limited, trading as Pippa Pop-ins, on the sale of the entire issued share capital to leading national education provider, Dukes Education.
- Advised Fairfield Industries Incorporated, trading as FairfieldNodal, a global leader in seismic nodal technology, on its acquisition of the business and assets of WGP Group Ltd and its subsidiaries from Thalassa Holdings Ltd (a British Virgin Islands AIM listed company) for a maximum cash consideration of USD $30 million.
- Advised Fairfield Industries Incorporated, trading as Fairfield Geotechnologies, on the sale of its UK subsidiary WGP Group Ltd to Magseis ASA, a Norwegian listed company.
- Advised on the sale of the entire issued share capital of DNAFit Life Sciences Limited and its subsidiaries to Prenetics Limited (a Hong Kong company) for US$10 million.
- Advised Mercury Publicity Limited on its acquisition of the business and assets of International Graphic Press Limited.
- Advised Pineapple Dance Studios, the iconic dance studio in Covent Garden founded and run by Debbie Moore OBE, on the opening of its first branch outside of London in Dubai.
Qualifications & Accreditations
Jonathan qualified as a solicitor in 1996 and joined Payne Hicks Beach in 1997. He became a Partner in 2005.
Jonathan is a member of the Association of Partnership Practitioners and an associate member of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys.
Awards & Accolades
- The Legal 500 UK 2027 highlights Jonathan Gatward as a ‘Recommended Key Lawyer’ for ‘M&A: Smaller Deals (£10m–£100m)’
- The Legal 500 UK 2026 highlights Jonathan Gatward as a ‘Recommended Key Lawyer’ for ‘M&A: Smaller Deals (£10m–£100m)’ and ‘Sport’.
